Netball Superleague round-up: Semi-final battle goes down to the wire
It has gone to the wire, just as it looked like it would. With only the final round of Superleague fixtures remaining on Saturday, Wasps are the sole team to have secured their place in the semi-finals, with Manchester Thunder, Team Bath, Loughborough Lightning and Saracens Mavericks fighting it out for the remaining three spots. One of them will be disappointed.
In all likelihood, Thunder are safe. Their vastly superior goal difference means there is little prospect of them dropping out of the top four, barring a huge defeat on Saturday and other results going against them.
Bath and Lightning have a three-point advantage over Mavericks so victories for both sides would render the Saracens v Strathclyde Sirens match null and void for semi-final purposes.
But should either Bath or Lightning lose, they could be in major trouble. Despite currently sitting fifth in the table, Mavericks have a far superior goal difference to the two teams above them in the table, which leaves them praying for a slip-up.
That Bath still sit third in the table is thanks to an unexpected victory at Manchester Thunder over the weekend. Down by four after the opening quarter, Bath stormed to a three-goal lead by half-time and held on to win by the same margin 56-53.
There were no mistakes for Lightning, who edged past London Pulse 67-62, or Mavericks, who produced a rampant final-quarter performance to beat Severn Stars 62-48. Celtic Dragons leapfrogged Surrey Storm in the table with a 58-51 victory.
The weekend had begun with double defending champions Wasps securing a home semi-final with a 56-41 win over Strathclyde Sirens. After a brief wobble which saw three defeats in four games, Mel Mansfield's side have confirmed their status as favourites to retain their title.
"It was an interesting game, we wanted to get through it and build into our semi-final and we did that," said Mansfield. "It's all about the semi-final now for us and we're moving well toward our goals."
World Cup watch
After an injury-plagued season, Ama Agbeze was an unused substitute in London Pulse's defeat against a Loughborough Lightning side featuring Nat Panagarry and Ella Clark, who finished the game with a shooting percentage of 81 per cent. As so often this season, Ugandan star Mary Cholhok stole the show with a shooting percentage of 96 per cent.
Despite a slow start, Saracens Mavericks overcame a stubborn Severn Stars with Kadeen Corbin, Sasha Corbin, Razia Quashie and George Fisher all featuring. Fisher ended with a shooting success of 90 per cent.
Serena Guthrie produced a fine display against Northern Ireland centre Caroline O’Hanlon to help a Team Bath side that also featured Summer Artman and Eboni Usoro-Brown see off Manchester Thunder.
Jade Clarke, Rachel Dunn and Fran Williams all played in Wasps' win at Strathclyde Sirens.
Fixtures
Saturday May 4
Loughborough Lightning v Celtic Dragons, 6pm
Saracens Mavericks v Strathclyde Sirens, 6pm
Team Bath v London Pulse, 6pm
Severn Stars v Wasps, 6pm
Surrey Storm v Manchester Thunder, 6pm
